PALO ALTO — Two invasive peach fruit flies were found in separate areas of Palo Alto during the past two weeks, and efforts to eradicate the invasive species will start Thursday, according to officials from Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.

The fruit flies were identified and confirmed on June 28 and July 2. A map provided by Santa Clara County indicates the flies were located near Embarcadero Road and Highway 101, and near Alma Street between Oregon Expressway and Meadow Drive.

The peach fruit fly is considered “a devastating pest of a wide variety of important fruit and vegetables,” including peaches, apples, apricots, citrus, tomatoes watermelons, dates and avocados, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

Organic bait treatments will be applied beginning Thursday within a 1.5-mile radius from where the fruit flies were found, the county said. Pest control experts will use a “male attractant” technique that has previously eliminated dozens of fruit fly infestations in California.

Trained workers will squirt a small amount of fruit fly attractant containing Spinosad, an organic pesticide, mixed with a very small dose of an organic material about 8 to 10 feet off the ground on street trees, light poles and other inaccessible, elevated locations.

Male fruit flies are attracted to the mixture and die after consuming it.

Peach fruit flies are widespread through much of mainland southern Asia and neighboring islands and are known to attack more than 50 types of fruits and vegetables. Damage occurs when the female lays eggs in the fruit. The eggs hatch into larvae, which tunnel through the flesh of the fruit, making it unfit to eat.

Workers from San Mateo and Santa Clara counties will place insect detection traps within a 4.5-mile radius, including into Menlo Park and East Palo Alto, to determine the extent of the infestation.

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